The free health fair and street party last fall had about 15,000 attendees at its inaugural event. Sunday's closure of a portion of Broadway and Alamo Street to cars and trucks drew an estimated 45,000 on foot, bikes or skates to the third one.

For Almendarez, though, the numbers that count are a bit more personal. When she attended the first Síclovía, she weighed more than 200 pounds.

She was 36, and as a nurse working in a dialysis clinic, she knew what was coming if she did not get her health under control. Almendarez had started walking regularly, but Síclovía introduced her to BodyCombat, a martial arts-inspired aerobic class that she tried out on a whim.

She loved it, signed up for more and found herself with a new group of friends going to a gym three to four days a week. Now she weighs 150 pounds, and for the first time in years her blood pressure and cholesterol are under control.

It's exactly what San Antonio leaders had in mind for Síclovía. Now sponsored by

H-E-B, the event is designed to get people active by closing streets to vehicles and offering a wide range of classes and information on everything from camping to yoga.

“We want a San Antonio of folks who choose to be healthy, to not have that Coke,” said Mayor Julián Castro at the start of this year's event, which stretched from Mahncke Park to Alamo Plaza. “We know that as a community, especially in our older years, our rates of diabetes and obesity are far above the national average.”

Almendarez said the change in her life was a shift in what's considered normal — away from being overweight to being healthy.

“In my culture, it's kind of hard,” she said. “I come from a very big Mexican family, and when we get together we eat. We go all-out. My aunts think I'm starving myself. But I still eat my tacos. I just kind of watch the proportions and go to the gym.”

Business owners and managers along Broadway said the change from their usual quiet Sunday didn't hurt them, either. A crowd of walkers, bikers and skaters showed up despite the sudden drop of temperature to the mid-50s.

Swope set out bowls of water for the passing dogs and said that while customers had to ride or walk to his bookstore he made as many sales on Sunday as he would have on a typical Saturday, the busiest day of the week for him.

It was same down the road at Sam's Burger Joint, where bicycles lined the patio fence.

“Next time, we will get a live band,” assistant manager Tony Compean said.